KYL FACTOR STUNS PEP

Mbappe hat-trick leaves dream in tatters

- JEREMY CROSS

MANCHESTER CITY were the ones left crying their hearts out, after seeing their European dream end in tears in the Bernabeu.

Needing a miracle in Madrid, City suffered a nightmare instead on a night that will go down as one of the darkest of Pep Guardiola's managerial career.

But City only had themselves to blame for crashing out of the Champions League play-offs to a Real side inspired by Kylian Mbappe's hat-trick.

Because they picked a fight with the wrong club.

Having mocked Real with that banner in the first leg, over their reaction to seeing Rodri and not Vinicius Jr win the Ballon d'Or, the battle lines had been drawn. And how Real made City pay, to make sure they were the ones laughing last and the loudest, making Nico Gonzalez's goal at the death irrelevant.